Episode 1
Geopoetics of the Dahar
December ’24 (Ongoing) – A transdisciplinary research project on the geopoetics of the Dahar Mountains (Tunisia), and the interdependence between the landscape's transformation and the evolution of the local agricultural, architectural, and dwelling cultures.
« We found solace in the narrow alleys spiraling around the mountain, layer by layer — a millennium crossed with every step, as if to soften the vertigo of traversing geological eras we cannot comprehend »
Journal de bord excerpt, December 2024
With our hybrid identities, rooted in the multiple geographies of the Mediterranean, we encountered the Dahar Mountains (Southern Tunisia) for the first time as one might encounter and recognize the familiar face of a relative. In this austere environment, softened by the light of yellow and ivory stone, emerged various shapes and forms of dwelling: planted, cultivated, wild and rewilded, built, carved, masoned, laid, open, enclosed, in ruins, abandoned, alive, restored, renovated, constructed and reconstructed — in dry stone, limestone, clay brick, cinder block; with wood, palm trunks, steel reinforcement; plastered and bound with lime, with earth, sometimes cement; often simply dry.
Guided by our interconnected sensibilities as architects, researchers, and creators, and inspired by the holistic vision of Kenneth White and the framework of geopoetics, we sought to develop an experiential understanding of these complex landscapes in the face of the existential transformations of our time.
"The ascent calls to us like a duty. There is no other choice: the only path forward is the one that leads to the sky."
Journal de bord excerpt, December 2024
To observe, survey, and analyze the changing practices of building and inhabiting in the Dahar region, and reflect on the resilience of human and non-human life in the face of fragile ecosystems, is to find a way to understand, to celebrate, to protect, and to act within this environment.
A series
Geopoetics of the Dahar جيوشـــاعرية جبال الظـــاهر is an ongoing series that investigates the ecological, cultural, social, and political entanglement of the landscape through sketches, architectural surveys, photo series, videos, and text.
Episode 1 is a visually driven introduction to the site — a portrait-like assemblage of sketchbook spreads capturing scenes and moments from Matmata to Douiret, passing through Tamezret, Toujane, Tataouine, Chenini, and the many ksours in between.
